Rowlett rallies past Forney with seven-inning surge, advances in playoffs

Rowlett High School turned a late deficit into a postseason escape, scoring five runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat Forney 6-5 and move into the second round of the UIL 2025-2026 Texas high school baseball playoffs.

The rally began with Jeffrey Claycomb’s RBI single, which tied the game and opened the door for the final burst. Rowlett then finished the inning with five runs in all, flipping a game that had already tightened into a high-pressure North Texas playoff battle.

For Rockwall County fans, the win carried immediate stakes. Rowlett advanced to round 2 and kept its season alive, while Forney was eliminated from the bracket and sent home from the postseason. In a tournament built on single-elimination pressure, one inning changed the path for both programs.

The result also fit the profile of a season that had already pushed both teams through a demanding late-April schedule. Forney High School entered the postseason in the middle of a strong slate of games, and Rowlett’s baseball program had been tracking through a full 2026 schedule in Dallas-area coverage. That made the playoff meeting feel less like a standalone upset and more like the next turn in a hard-fought spring for two programs that had been tested all season.

The UIL playoff system set the stage, with statewide brackets determining who moves forward and who goes home. In that framework, Rowlett’s seventh-inning surge mattered far beyond the final score. It gave the Rowlett community another round to follow, another game to prepare for, and another chance to see its team respond under postseason pressure.

For Rowlett, the comeback was a reminder that one swing, one inning, and one timely hit can reshape a playoff run. Forney’s season ended with the tying run and the rally that followed, while Rowlett left the field with a 6-5 win and a place in the next round.